


The King and Their Informant

by sorasan0000



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Age Difference, Future Fic, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7029250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorasan0000/pseuds/sorasan0000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a troublesome attack occurs in the country, Suwon must decide how to best deal with the perpetrators. In the midst of receiving this news, Suwon receives a simple message from a certain man they have been longing to see since his departure from the castle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The King and Their Informant

**Author's Note:**

> \- Written when ch.123 was the latest published chapter  
> \- Written using the idea that Judoh resigns as Sky General soon after the events of the Sei Kidnapping arc  
> \- Non-binary Suwon with they/them pronouns

The cool breeze of the winter air blew through the corridor, reaching the exposed skin of Suwon’s neck, causing them to shutter from head to toe. Looking through the spaces the pillars presented, the skies were blotted with clouds, both white and gray, ready to give Kuuto the first winter storm within the next week, for sure. Suwon closed their eyes as the wind whipped back and forth, moving along unhindered as the results of the recent Five Tribes’ meeting flashed in their mind.

“Chi’shin Castle was infiltrated by rebels from the reacquired northwest territory. They won’t speak of who their ringleader is, but we will be on higher alert,” General Geun-Tae had reported.

“We will need more financial support for the nadai clinics. More and more patients are either coming forth for the first time or are returning addicts,” reported General Jun-Gi.

“Nothing to report here,” General Tae-Wu had shrugged off, not saying a word afterward.

“General Representative Tae-Jun is seeing to that the clinics in the impoverished villages are maintaining well trained staff members. As such, the mortality rates are declining. As for the military, the restructuring is showing results.” With that, General Kyo-Ga cleared his throat and relaxed against his seat.

“General Jun-Gi, deliver the exact financing it takes to open and administer a nadai clinic for two years to Adviser Keishuk. The funds will be delivered based upon that,” Suwon had instructed before glancing at General Geun-Tae. Gesturing with a wave their neck, indicating they would talk in private later, Geun-Tae nodded and folded his arms on the table.

After an hour of discussing other issues, mainly finances this time around, all but General Tae-Wu had trapped Suwon for a subject most difficult and tiresome by this point. It was an inevitable discourse that they expected to be brought up every time these meetings happened. Putting on airs and innocent fake smiles, Suwon had taken the usual offensive.

“No, I have not found someone to be my betrothed yet. I couldn’t possibly-“

“Jun-Gi, demand an emergency meeting and bring Lili and her bodyguards here,” Geun-Tae had intruded before Suwon could finish.

“Lady Lili is undergoing her education in Sei’s capital right now. She doesn’t have time to focus on this!” Suwon had insisted.

“Damn, Keishuk, haven’t you had any luck coming up with a list or anything?”

Keishuk disappointingly shook his head, giving Suwon the usual impatient glare. Suwon kept up the fake unknowing grin, acting like they had done nothing more than a simple blunder.

“Well,” Kyo-Ga had added, “finding a suitable queen is nothing to take lightly. Isn’t that something you once said, Adviser Keishuk?”

“With Lord Suwon being involved in engagement appointments since the age of 16, it’s still a wonder there isn’t even a potential partner in mind. There is a limit, Your Majesty.” Keishuk’s tone had been sharp. Suwon could tell how impatient the ever-serious adviser had become.

“Um,” an unsure voice had chipped in, “c-could it be that Your Majesty is actually in love with a commoner and that’s why you’re so quiet about it?”

Everyone, including Suwon, had turned to the man who had popped the question on the conversation. A light questioning peep had slipped through Suwon’s lips, causing Geun-Tae and Jun-Gi to immediately flip their gaze back upon their king. Suwon could feel the intense gaze directed at them.

“Your Majesty, if this is about that one girl you met in Awa, I really can find her,” Geun-Tae had said flatly.

“Not so fast, Geun-Tae,” Jun-Gi had said, waving a sleeve between Geun-Tae and Suwon, “a person of noble birth would be the best fit for the king. Your Majesty, you understand this, do you not?”

Suwon saw Keishuk nod in agreement from the corner of their eye. They could feel their face warming up as their mind began to go blank and a feeling of high alarm overcame their body. Sweat had begun dripping down their forehead and was forming on the skin beneath their lose pony tail as the two older generals bickered back and forth between the legitimacy of the throne’s royal bloodline.

 “All right, this was obviously not the best topic to bring up. Let’s discuss it another time,” the same man who brought the subject up had said.

“Now you can expect it to be brought up after every meeting, Greeny!” Geun-Tae laughed.

“General, please stop calling me that!” the lighter-haired man had shouted.

“It’s no use. He’s the type who likes riling people up, so don’t feed him,” Kyo-Ga had sighed, patting the man on the shoulder and glaring at Geun-Tae.

“And yet you end up doing just that all the time, my young Greenhorn.”

Kyo-Ga clenched his fists and cleared his throat, bowing before Suwon before taking his leave. Suwon could tell he needed to get away from there as fast as he could, before Geun-Tae began his infamous onslaught of pestering Kyo-Ga about his own single status.  

“Speaking of women, are you married, Greeny?”

“Yes. Have been for seven years.”

Geun-Tae’s smile remained brilliant and strong. Heaving a defeated sigh, he had shrugged and bowed before Suwon before turning and heading back toward the meeting room. Suwon could see the slight slump in his stride as he left and faintly smiled, feeling a tight tug within their chest.

“I suppose this is different for Geun-Tae,” Jun-Gi had paused, “having a Sky General that is actually married. At least we won’t have to deal with the back and forth bickering that happened on that front. One of the good things that came out of that.” Jun-Gi trailed off and bowed to Suwon before taking his leave.

Suwon’s heart sank as the words echoed in their mind. The cool winter breeze whirled within the corridor, prompting Suwon to close their eyes as they continued forward with Keishuk and the new Sky General by their side.

“Your Majesty, I trust you, either way. I’m sure you’ll introduce her to us once it’s the right time,” he added as a final note.

Suwon wanted to thank the general for being considerate but also wanted to shrug it off in the best subtle way they could. While he wasn’t far off, it wasn’t exactly correct.

******

Insurgents from the Kin Province, now claimed by Kouka, attacked Chi’shin castle, claiming the lives of six servants, one soldier, and injuring twenty others. Lady Yuno was among the injured. This is what Suwon had to work with, with Geun-Tae bringing them up to date with the incident. Past incidents would lead to sanctions against the entire territory, but the entire population would eventually bite back if their shackles were made too heavy.

Suwon pondered all this as they sat in a room full of boisterous drunkards in a local bar they called the East Side Ring. Their thinking was interrupted when Ogi, the current underground boss of the town’s east district, slammed his hand on Suwon’s shoulder and invited him to eat their spoils. Betting with money wasn’t the only thing that attracted Ogi’s ever gambling spirit, and Suwon knew that all too well.

“What brought y’here anyway, Kid? Y’don’t come very often, and when y’do it’s to gather information. It’ll cost a cart of pork.”

Suwon laughed and placed an assuring hand on Ogi’s. “I’m just waiting for someone this time. He may have some information to hand to me.”

Earlier that week, Suwon had received a message that read, _“East Side Ring, seventeenth day of twelfth month”_

When Suwon had read it, their heart began to race and a smile spread across their face. The handwriting was definitely his. He wasn’t expected to be in contact for another year, so the fact it was happening only a couple months after his departure meant he had caught something big. Suwon vowed that whatever business he was bringing forth, it would be taken seriously. They weren’t going to continue losing him.

\--Was what Suwon had been thinking, but the former Sky General, with all his straightforward work ethic and impatient desire for quick results, had yet to appear at the East Side Ring. He wasn’t the type for joking around, so it couldn’t be that. What if he came earlier in the day and they both completely missed each other?

Suwon became so absorbed in their thoughts and concerns that their surroundings became a blur of buzzing noise and a mosaic of colors. Not even the flash of a dark blue mantle and a chorus of laughter caught their attention. It wasn’t until they could feel the digging poke of Ogi’s finger in their shoulder that Suwon came back to their senses and tried to laugh off the trance. Ogi grinned and pointed in the direction of the person sitting opposite of them both.

It was a rather peculiar site. The older, gruff man had an elaborate paper crown adorning the top of his head. The sight made most everyone break out in laughter, but Suwon only sat dumbfounded, wondering if this man was the same one they had been waiting on for hours. He didn’t say anything, really. He sat with upright shoulders, eyes closed, and fists balled up on the table. His hair appeared longer, with no apparent center parting. The hairstyle reminded Suwon of Hak’s, though still a little shorter than that. As soon as he opened his eyes, Suwon knew it was him. Those beautiful green eyes were etched into their memory forever.

“How on earth did this happen, Judoh?” Suwon chirped.

Judoh crumpled the crown on his head, threw it to the ground, and held his head and murmured below his breath before breathing in and composing himself again. “I was taking a nap and someone dumped it on me. Let’s just get this done. It’s been a long week.”

Suwon chuckled imagining the scene in their head. Perhaps it was a local child who recognized his face and wanted to see if it could be done. Snapping back to the situation at hand, Suwon leaned in and asked Judoh what he came for with such urgency.

“I take it you’ve heard about the attack on Chi’shin?”

Suwon’s flourishing feelings of adoration and grin faded away as Judoh dropped the question, changing the reunion from lighthearted to grave in a matter of seconds. Nodding, Suwon waited for Judoh to continue.

Judoh, however, just sat still and remained quiet, as if he was still trying to process it. Suwon wanted to reach out to him and reassure him a plan was in the works, but after everything that had happened between them both, they weren’t sure it was the best moment to do it.

After a few moments of silence, Judoh spoke again. “Are you planning on going to suspicious villages to investigate?”

Suwon perked up and leaned forward. “Judoh, do you know anything? At all?”

Judoh nodded and stood, gesturing his hand for Suwon to follow him. Weaving through the packed bar and heading out into the night, only the buzz of late night bars and the distant red-light district could be heard. The city was still illuminated for late night customers, lighting the path of the king and their former general as they talked quietly.

“The villages closer to the Kai border consider themselves Kai citizens. They’re not like the ones that are close to our border and have citizens that identify as Kouka citizens. The base is probably one of those.” Judoh quickly explained his own observations, calm and professionally.  

Suwon put their hand against their chin and hummed in agreement. “Do you have any leads regarding which ones exactly?”

“I have seven. I want permission as an informant to investigate in your place.”

Suwon’s eyes widened as a sudden feeling of doubt surged through them, causing them to come to a full stop.  They could hear their thudding heartbeat echoing in their head, though that was not the only thing ringing in their mind. How had Judoh gathered this much precise information before Geun-Tae even had a chance to narrow it down? Their chest tightened and their lips quivered.

Hearing Judoh address them caused them to slowly start walking again. Closing their eyes so they could walk unhindered with the new gust of wind, Suwon marched until they could tell they were next to Judoh again. Without hesitating, they both began walking again, eager to find a place to get shelter from the incoming storm.

When a quainter bar was spotted, the two took a moment to shiver all they could to warm themselves. After a suspicious stare caught their attention, they checked in swiftly and ordered two drinks half-heartedly. Nothing full house this time, seeing as Suwon didn’t know how long Judoh planned to be around. Sitting in contemplative silence, Suwon carefully thought of an answer to give, although there were a few things they hoped to clear before Judoh left.

“You have my permission to investigate, but should you run into any familiar faces from Kouka, you are to suspend your work until they are not involved.”

Judoh nodded, adding nothing more. Even though he had taken a nap earlier, it still didn’t look like he was getting enough rest. Suwon wanted to trace every line they could see, from his scar to the tired bags under his eyes. His lips appeared dry and chapped, most certainly caused by the winter air and perhaps stress, too.

Their relationship was different now, though that subordinate relationship still built itself up and Suwon wanted nothing more than to tear it down. They could not do this on their own, so long as Judoh kept building it. Though doing nothing to break it themselves, Suwon continued with their work at hand.

“How often should I expect to receive updates from you?”

“Every month, I suppose.”

Suwon wanted to approach the next item of business with caution, in the event that what they were dreading before was true. Suwon swallowed and with the same tone they had been keeping up the entire conversation, they dropped the question.

“How will you be obtaining the information? How will you be passing it along?”

Judoh took a few seconds to answer, unlike the previous rounds when he had answered quickly. Suwon couldn’t show it, but their heart was thumping uncontrollably. _Please_ , they begged _, don’t be what I think you are._

“I have informants of my own who are working along that border.”

Suwon couldn’t shake the growing doubts and had to dig more. “Since when?”

 “You know,” he began, “when I left the position of Sky General, I did so because I was useless there.” He lifted his hands onto the table and folded one lightly on top of the other.

Suwon remembered the conversation that took place as Judoh told them he was resigning. For far too many months, Suwon had taken his loyalty for granted. Had they known better than to give their most loyal subordinate mixed signals about what to do in certain situations, perhaps the conclusion could have been avoided. This was, at least, what Suwon had concluded for themselves. Even though Judoh had only blamed himself, Suwon knew it was their blindness and recklessness that had factored into the conclusion Judoh had reached.

“Being appointed a general in a time when I was not needed, always chastising you when you were already far more qualified than I could have dreamed, not being able to read your motives when you needed me to—well, you’ve already heard my reasons, so,” Judoh cut himself off as his drink arrived and he took the chance to end it before he got heated.

“Please don’t blame yourself for that last one,” Suwon quietly said. How could anyone, even the subordinate most loyal to him, decide what to do if it was never conveyed openly? That fault was theirs and theirs alone.

Judoh breathed heavily through is nostrils and took another drink before composing himself and continuing. “Before I became the general eleven years ago, I had an information network in Kuuto. I simply got back in touch with some of them, sent a team to each border, and the team near the northwest border brought back those tips. Then I heard rumors of Chi’shin being attacked as I was traveling back here to deliver those.”

Suffocating pressure subsided as Suwon took in Judoh’s reasons. Having not touched the drink as soon as it was given to them, Suwon finally took a swig, knowing they could keep it down. A smile crept up that they could not contain, and at this point they couldn’t have cared less. They thought something like this could never happen with Judoh again, and here it was. A refreshing breath escaped their lips as they gave Judoh a warm gaze.

“You’ve found your place, then?”

Judoh nodded, finishing off his glass and avoiding Suwon’s gaze. Suwon could see his face flush red, which was a very rare sight when he was not angry.

*****  

Snow drifted to and fro in the air as the wind appeared to blow it in several different directions. Suwon held their hair down with their overcoat as they waited for Judoh to finish paying for their drinks. The rest of the time they spent was in silence, wondering whether one or the other should’ve spoken or kept things as they were. Suwon was glad that Judoh had found something he felt he could do, but would this mean it was truly the start of a new life, without Suwon present? It really was a bittersweet thing to consider.

As they both reached the street that would lead to the castle, they paused in their footsteps. The official story was that Judoh committed treason against Kouka’s Five Tribes, so he couldn’t very well show himself anywhere near the castle, even this late at night. The business Judoh had was finished, and Suwon had to figure out how to move without letting anyone know it was him who gave him the information. Though before they delved into that, Suwon wanted to spend just a little more time with the man, setting aside formality and work.

As they turned to Judoh, they could see him already turning to leave in the opposite direction, causing Suwon to reach out without hesitation. Turning back, Judoh gave them a questioning look. Having nothing in advance to talk about, Suwon acted without thinking and tugged at their golden hair ring and slipped it off, leaving their hair unfixed and sprawled across their shoulder. They took Judoh’s hand and placed it in the middle of his palm, closing the hand and holding the clenched hand in their own.

“This is a very important thing to me. I’m only lending it to you, so you have to give it back to me someday,” Suwon softly explained.

“Why are you giving it to me now?” Judoh sounded perplexed.

Suwon breathed and swallowed, feeling their face grow uncomfortably warm. “Stay safe so you can give it back. That’s all.”

Judoh nodded and then unpinned his mantle, keeping it together with his fingers as he held out the golden-plated pin shaped in the form of a dragon. “Then I’ll tell you the same. Don’t go off and continue doing things that make people worry. I expect this to be given back to me someday, so I had better not receive news of your death.”

Suwon cupped the pin in their hands, ignoring that the hood of their overcoat had slipped off, leaving their hair to blow madly in the breeze. A smirk appeared on Judoh’s face, catching Suwon off guard and bringing them back in the moment. The hair could wait to be fixed later, but it still left Suwon flustered and desperate to hide it. With one hand, they flipped the hood back over their head and quickly composed themselves to prepare for the separation.

Having no idea how long it would be before they say him again, Suwon took one more step further and looked him in the eye. Without inching back, Judoh maintained the same distance without breaking eye contact. Though expecting nothing, Suwon could feel his breath against their lips and they felt as if everything would break if they moved even a sliver more.

_“I’m sure you’ll introduce her to us once it’s the right time.”_

_I cannot._

Suwon shirked back, knowing the line was only a short distance from being crossed. Judoh, likewise, did the same. He took several steps back before bowing and leaving. Suwon released their tension as they waved him off and turned quickly back toward the castle. Their face flushed beet red and they were grateful that it was already dark and the streets vacant so nobody could see just how unraveled they had become.


End file.
